My Phone // The Ultimate Amateur iPhone Review

My last name's not
Gruber or
Sadun, but I'd like to tell you about my first 60 days with an iPhone.

Background

I've had many phones and I'd like to think that I understand the market. I know what sells and I know what I like. Until the iPhone, I've always thought to myself, "is this really the best [Nokia, Motorola, HTC, etc] can do in today's day and age?" Immediately prior to my iPhone, I was carrying a
T-Mobile Dash, my second. It's actually a decent phone and I liken it to a Motorola RAZR in that the hardware (minus that crappy touch/slider thing) was great and the OS was lousy (save for the real-time email search in WM6). While carrying the Dash, the LG Prada dropped. I don't think it happened before I *saw an iPhone though. I actually considered plunking down for the Prada because the touch screen interface was so intriguing. Glad I didn't. One of the hardest things for me and the iPhone, like many, was that I was (er, am) locked into a T-Mobile contract. When the iPhone had a free software hack and Apple was selling the 4GB version for ~$300, I had to act. I've had the phone for 2.5 months now. It's the longest I've had a phone without the slightest bit of buyer's remorse. Here's my take. First of all, the phone's not perfect. Nothing is. It's so far more important ahead of it's competition that I don't think it really has competition.

Hardware

To Case or Not to Case? When I first ordered the phone, i immediately knew a case was in order. I electronically shopped around and the best case for me was either the incase model (you know, with the topographic map lines on the back) or a
sticker. I was NOT going to let this thing get scratched, as I've learned my lesson with week-old iPods. I also heard that the case I liked actually scratched the iPhone's chrome and stretched out within a few weeks. (Huh?) That is, until I read Ars Technica's
in-depth review of the iPhone. It's very comprehensive to the point that they slide it, face-down across a sidewalk (cringe). When I saw the battery they gave their phone and the very little damage from the real life scenarios, I decided against a case. Two months later, I can't find a scratch anywhere on my phone. And that's saying a lot, considering my buddy's new
iPod Touch (with the stainless back) is scratched the hell up after two weeks. I haven't dropped it either. I know that will happen someday, so I'll buy a case to cover up blemishes then. I'm a naked electronics kind of guy, wherever possible. Also of note: I have a friend who cracked his screen the weekend he bought his iPhone. He took it to the Apple Store, a wink and a zero dollar receipt later, he had a new one. Awesome.
Glass Screen The glass screen is a joy to use. Smudges are really a non-issue. My sweaty kid (pre-deoderant phase) sure can get the screen sticky though with a quick after-school call. When it's clean my fingers glide over the face and I've been really pleased with the responsiveness and sensitivity of the screen.
Headphones/Hands Free If you've ever used iPod headphones, you already have an opinion. iPhone headphones are practically the same that Apple's used for a while. I know there's some differences, but they fit similarly, the quality's similar (to me), etc. Here's what's cool about these though: I'm OCD and I always make sure that R is in my right ear and L is in my left. In low light, it can be hard to tell. Because the mic is built into the cord for the R side, I can grab, untangle and insert on the fly (read:while driving). That may not sound like much, but I've fumbled with headphones a lot in the past. It's nice to feel my way through it. As I've recommended before, I recommend getting a couple of
these clips to keep the headphone cord at bay.
Home Button Until 1.1.1, the Home Button served one purpose, get you back to the homescreen. Now however, a doubletap can take you to your Phone Favorites or the iPod. That's cool. If the iPod's playing, a double tap of the Home Button brings up a HUD for quick iPod controls. That's nice. As functional as it is, I wish the Home Button didn't move. I'm not a fan of clicky. Heck, my favorite iPod was the 3G, whose only moving part was a Hold Button. I feel like the Home Button on the iPhone is flimsy and loose (I've felt 4-5 others and they all feel the same).

Software

Keyboard I HAVE TO start with the keyboard. Prior to my iPhone venture (er, purchase), I considered the iPhone keyboard to be it's big downfall. I played with just the kayboard in an Apple store for over an hour one Saturday and just COULD NOT get used to it. That is, until I drank Steve's Kool-Aid. I don't remember when/where it was (if you know, please comment), but he said you just have to trust the keyboard to make it work. The key to success with the iPhone keyboard is to understand that you're GOING TO fat finger everything, and landscape (where supported) doesn't help AT ALL, but if you trust the software and hold back from correcting those small mistakes, you're golden 95% of the time. That's right, I said 95%. It's seriously amazing. I'm calling the keyboard's fat-fingeryness a feature now, not a bug.
It's the Little Things The iPhone has a built in brightness adjuster. I know that's not what it's called, but that's what I'm calling it. If you're a Powerbook/MBP user, you know how this works. That may not seem that impressive, and it's not the first time a mobile phone has offered it, but it's great on the iPhone. I'm not sure if it's the light sensor or the touch sensor that decides on the following, but this is really cool. When you're talking (phone to cheek), the display dims to nothing. If you're calling your voicemail where additional key presses are necessary, the iPhone senses when you've taken the phone from your face and gives you back the keypad. Sounds cheesy, but that made my freaking day the first time.
Pinching I'm not a huge fan of pinching/spreading to zoom out/in. It looks pretty when Steve's looking for calamari in SF, but it seems like every time I do it, I throw Google Maps into another area code. That's cool though, double-clicking does a better job zooming into an area of a map or Web page.
Caps Lock I'm not sure why, but with 1.1.1, the iPhone now uses the shift key as a caps-lock. It makes me sad. It's not that annoying in actual use (once you get used to it, and you're good at looking to make sure it's not breaking your password entry), but as one who's a part of the ANTI-CAPSLOCK movement, I'd like to see that revert to the shift of old.

iPhone Resources

I found these places helpful and even vouch for some of their software, advice. Drop me a message if you have questions about my experience.